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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Min 2002-09-09 8-26-02 / 9-9-02 Attest: I Seal Beach, California September 9, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular adjourned session at 6:30 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Doane, Yost Absent: Councilmember Campbell Councilmember Campbell was present in the Conference Room awaiting the Closed Session. Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Ms. Yeo, City Clerk I CLOSED SESSION The City Clerk announced that the Council would meet in Closed Session pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(b) and (c) relating a case of anticipated litigation and initiation of litigation, and to confer with the City's labor negotiator pursuant to Government Code Section 54957.6 relating to Confidential, Supervisory, Professional and Technical employees. The Council adjourned to Closed Session at 6:32 p.m. and reconvened at 7:10 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order. The City Attorney reported that by a vote of five to zero the City Council authorized the law firm of Richards, Watson and Gershon to provide defense for former Councilmember Shawn Boyd in cases numbered BC280139 and BC277499 and any related cases involving the Trailer Park under a reservation of rights, only for acts within the scope and course of his duties as a Councilmember, and no other reportable action was taken. ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to adjourn the meeting at 7:11 p.m. I Approved: ~6h.J hk-L#~, Mayor Attest: 9-9-02 Seal Beach, California September 9, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:11 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. ROLL CALL Present: I Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane, Yost Absent: None Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Chief Sellers, Police Department Ms. Arends-King, Director of Administrative Services Mr. Cummins, Associate Planner Mr. Vukojevic, Deputy City Engineer Ms. Yeo, City Clerk APPROVAL OF AGENDA Councilmember Campbell requested that Items "G" and "J" be removed from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration, Councilman Antos requested that Items "F" and "M" be removed, the City Attorney noted the distribution of a memorandum regarding legislation relating to second units, it could be added to the agenda by a four fifths vote. I Antos moved, second by Doane, to add the legislation memorandum from the City Attorney to the agenda, identified as Item "0", and that the order of the agenda be approved as revised. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ANNOUNCEMENTS Councilmember Campbell announced that on September 22nd there will be a free 'Concert In The Park' at Heather Park from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m., it will be a nice Sunday afternoon. Councilman Doane reported that an individual that has been very active person in this community and whose business in now located in Los Alamitos, Mr. Dennis Pollman, along with his company, generously donated an electronic score board for the ballfield at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, the dedication was held on Sunday with many persons in attendance. PROCLAMATION Mayor Larson proclaimed the month of September, 2002 as "Parent Teacher Association Membership Month" and the week of September 16th through 22nd, 2002 as "Join PTA Week," also noted that he had attended the Statewide News Conference recognition of the PTA last week in Los Alamitos at which the proclamation was presented. I Recognizing the number of people present in the audience and their anticipated interest in the parking meter issue, Mayor Larson requested Council concurrence to receive the parking 9-9-02 Committee report at this time prior to the Public Comment period. A consensus to do so was indicated by the members of the Council. I MAIN STREET PARKING METER REPORT - PUBLIC INFORMATION HEARING - ORDINANCE NUMBER 1489 / PROPOSED RESOLUTIONS The Associate Planner stated that the intent of this item was to receive the Main Street Parking Meter Study which is the result of an Ad Hoc Parking Committee established by the Council approximately two years ago, Councilmembers Doane and Antos sat on the Committee, the Committee met about six times to consider whether or not parking meters should be placed in the downtown area, developed options, their recommendations were incorporated into a draft study prepared by staff, the final study now before the Council. The Planner presented a summary of the recommendations made by the study, that parking management needs to be done comprehensively not in pieces, staff will provide an overview of what the City is doing currently in terms of parking management in the Old Town area, as shown by the study, meters are necessary on Main Street as parking in this area is a scarce commodity, has value, and currently that value is not being utilized by the City, recommendation was a fee of $1 per hour with the two hour maximum maintained, which is an industry standard. He explained that the report walks through the existing parking plan, an in-depth description of the different technologies, etc., the different impacts of putting meters in, aesthetic impacts, and what type of marketing would be necessary to install meters so that the public fully understands what they need to do to not receive a citation as this would be a new system that has not been in place for many years. The Planner reported that three off site visits were made during preparation of the study, Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, and Redondo Beach, all having similar characteristics of the downtown in terms of street layout, configurations, and different types of business demographics, a financial analysis was conducted by taking the numbers that those cities had seen in terms of a percentage usage. He showed a diagram of the Main Street Parking Meter Study Area, meters being proposed to be placed on Main Street between Ocean Avenue and Pacific Coast Highway on both sides of the street, on Electric Avenue, Central Avenue, and Ocean Avenue in between the alleys, all non-residential areas. The existing parking plan, in the beach lots there is a pay and park system with a machine, the individual will park their car, go to the machine, pay the money, receive a ticket and place it on their car, in the Old Town area there is some restricted time parking, that is a time limit on an individual space, if parked longer than the time limit the tires will be chalked by a parking control officer, there are metered lots in the 100 block of Main and at Main/Electric, at present there are two separate companies that provide maintenance and collection, the preference of staff however would be to have one company provide that service, at issue is who is doing what with the parking management system, the City of Long Beach currently collects and maintains the meters, they bring the money to City Hall, it is then weighed and the City then takes it to the bank, staff would request authorization to have one company do all of that for the City. The Planner offered that the recommended technology is traditional meters, the design recommended by the Committee and staff is two meter heads on one pole, arrows that clearly delineate the space being paid for, traditional meters have a clearly defined purpose, it would take very little outreach to educate the public. At present there is a street facade I I 9-9-02 that has no meters along the street front, installing meters will have some aesthetic impact, the Committee and staff feel that putting two meters on one shaft will greatly reduce the impact. From the site visits it was found that Laguna Beach has two thousand two hundred parking spaces, most of the downtown is metered, a two hour time limit, and recently raised their rates to $1.50 per hour. For comparison purposes they tried to look at the percentage usage a meter occupied, the proposal for Seal Beach is meters between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., that is ten hours, therefore if a meter averages $5 of income per day it was then averaging fifty percent occupancy, in the case of Laguna they averaged a little more than forty-five percent in winter months and in summer months it is well over two hundred percent, they too have diagonal parking. Huntington Beach has a smaller downtown area, there are seventy-five meters, they also have additional lots that are pay and park, they charge $1.50 per hour and meter from 6:00 a.m. until midnight, they were about fifty percent occupancy in winter months and about one hundred percent in summer months. He noted too that it must be clearly defined on the meter what the charge is, the length of parking time allowed, type of change accepted, etc. Redondo Beach has four hundred fifty meters in what they call their village area, that area most closely resembled Seal Beach, they charge $.75 per hour, some meters are for twenty- four hours and some spaces are not metered at all on the same street, in some instances there is one hour free parking immediately next to metered parking, they have diagonal parking as well, and a couple of lots are metered. The Planner stated that when this was taken to the Committee what they wanted to look at was how a comprehensive approach to parking management could be achieved, the committee recommended that street parking in the residential areas be left as non-pay and expand the maximum one hour parking to all streets between 5th and 12th Streets, both sides of the street, leave the beach lots as is with pay and park machines, and install meters in the areas that were previously identified at $1 per hour between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. With regard to the financial analysis, again this study was looked at in terms of percentage occupancy with some presumptions made, there are three hundred one spaces in the study area that could be metered, operation between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. would be a ten hour window, $1 per hour, the industry standard, the fifty percent occupancy is felt to be fairly conservative from what was seen in the market place, the study also shows a thirty percent and seventy percent occupancy for the purpose of comparison. As to cost to the City, considerable information was provided in the study as to the types of meters, their cost, the range basically just under $400 to $500 per meter this initial cost ranging from $125,000 to $154,000 plus or minus, maintenance costs are estimated at approximately $150,000 per year given current costs, revenues are estimated at $5 per meter per day at fifty percent occupancy, that would generate about $540,000 revenue annually, given the costs one can look at just over four months total recapture of all expenditures for the parking meter program. The Committee and staff recommended the installation of traditional meters in all of the areas that have been identified for the pay system, use a two head, one post design, operational between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. at a charge of $1 per hour and to extend the one hour parking on all streets between 5th and 12th. With regard to revenue distribution, the Planner noted that staff provided two resolutions for consideration, assuming the Council determines to install parking meters, where the I I I 9-9-02 I resulting revenue is used is the next question, one resolution as recommended by the Parking Committee would have fifty percent of the total revenue go specifically within the area of the Main Street Specific Plan, curb, sidewalk, etc. improvements, fifty percent would then go to road improvements throughout the community, staff also prepared an alternate resolution for consideration with fifty percent of revenue going to General Fund to offset some of the City budget deficits. What is expected is about $490,000 in net revenues, that would be around $240,000 for General Fund and a like amount for roadway improvements, in the second resolution all of the money would go to road improvements and the Main Street area. He noted that the approval process also involves a Coastal Commission permit which is anticipated would take from six to ten months if Council were to approve the program. In conclusion, the first question is does the City Council want installation of parking meters, if that answer is yes then where should those meters be installed, is the parking Committee recommendation acceptable, and if approved where then should the revenue be directed. The planner noted that in the agenda packet there is a proposed ordinance that would allow meters in the areas recommended by the Committee, sets the fee at $1 per hour, and two resolutions for consideration as to revenue distribution. I Mayor Larson invited members of the public wishing to comment on this matter to corne to the microphone and identify themselves. Mr. Roger West, Electric Avenue, thirty-five year member of the community, produced a report that was paid for by himself and the other taxpayers in 1995, the report called for parking meters and at that time closely resembles what is taking place now, the 1995 study projected the minimum yearly income to be $519,000 in terms of 1995 money. The study also said that this would move the beach visitors off of Main Street, that would mean that those visitors who now have free parking paid for by the tax paying citizens would be paying for their own parking, the study mentioned as well that in 1968 the Main Street parking meters made so much money that the City purchased the 8th Street and Main Street parking lots with the revenue, and a quote of the late Stan Anderson, Sr. was that 'voting to remove parking meters from Main Street was the biggest mistake he ever made as a City official.' Mr. West said he did not understand why this is being gone over again, the City paid for the study and then ignored it, it is about time that the Council acts responsibly and heed the report, some people say parking meters are ugly, to that he would wonder about their taste, he also does not hear them saying a word about the merchandise and other things that are now being hawked on the sidewalks of Main Street. Mr. West provided the Council with a copy of the referenced report. Mr. Jim Caviola, Ocean Avenue, stated that the Travel and Holiday magazine for this month makes reference to the five best secret California beach towns, Redondo Beach and Laguna Beach did not make the five, Seal Beach did, this is a special place, and meters are nothing more than a tax, to call the report a study lacks credibility, two members of the Council corne from a generation that does not like taxes but the younger generation keeps getting slammed with taxes, the bottom line is that the people like it here, like it is, do not like putting quarters in meters. Mr. Caviola offered that he is self-employed, he can no longer take clients to Manhattan Beach or Laguna Beach or Huntington Beach for lunch because he does not carry rolls of quarters, an obnoxious situation I 9-9-02 to have to feed quarters in order to have a business meeting. The people pay for the atmosphere in this town, they do not want to be taxed to park on a public street, another way needs to be found to generate income, the thirteen homes that will be built on the Hellman land are in the Redevelopment area therefore the General Fund will get no property tax from that $13 million, yet the City wants the people to pay a quarter every twenty minutes to park, that changes the character of this town, meters were turned down in 1995, and he would ask that the City move on and stop trying to capitalize on what is here, people corne here because they do not have to pay to park, or they go to large shopping centers where they do not have to pay. Mr. Kurt Seifert, resident of Rossmoor and this community for twenty-seven years, said he and his wife spend an average of two or three mornings or afternoons in Old Town each week, they recently became aware of the parking meter proposal while having a dinner engagement with friends and due to congestion they had to park in the pay lot in the 100 block of Main Street, and to that stated that the problem with two hour parking is that you can not complete a nice dinner in that time, therefore the restaurant patron must excuse himself, walk down the street and repark because the limit is two hours. The after 6:00 p.m. non-operation of meters may be acceptable to many but not for those who choose to dine or visit the City in afternoon or earlier evening hours, moving the car and finding another space is not acceptable, instead of visiting Main Street they may choose to frequent businesses north of Rossmoor, possibly on Katella, in other words parking meters would likely cause them to go elsewhere with their business, weigh the short term revenue against the long term loss of business. . I I Ms. Lisa Woodruff, merchant and Main Street property owner, said she had double reasons for wanting meters on Main Street, her first concern is her livelihood, wants shoppers that are willing to spend money on Main Street, and retirement, she wants her property value to be maintained and worth something, that her hard work not be wasted, the bottom line is that if Seal Beach does not get the much needed revenue from meters it will fall apart, property values will go down, people need to look at the future of Seal Beach with meters, not yesterday without them. She said it is a sad fact that Seal Beach needs the money, she has been informed that in fiscal year 2003/2004 the City will have a $1 million deficit, parking meter revenue enhancement would be $500,000 per year, without the needed revenue the alternative will be many layoffs which would be catastrophic to everyone. Ms. Woodruff noted that because street parking is free people tend to stay the day, taking up much needed parking spaces and not spend much money, most people would rather pay for parking, knowing that they will likely find a spot rather than drive around trying to find a free spot, time is valuable. Many people that she has talked to, residents and non-residents, would not mind paying, it would not stop them from coming to Main Street to eat or to shop, if people do not want to spend a small amount of money for parking how would one think they would spend money in the shops, her desire is that Main Street be clean and safe with great places to eat and shop, a place where it is worth the price to park. Ms. Woodruff stated that if the choice is against meters that is a choice for less police, firefighters, and lifeguards to protect the public, it would mean many city layoffs and perhaps eliminating programs from which people benefit, City Hall staff may be lost altogether, it means I 9-9-02 I less City maintenance whereby the town will become dirty, who would want to live and shop in Seal Beach then. Many who are opposed to meters say there has to be other ways to get the needed revenue, but people have been trying to come up with ideas for decades, there is no need for more ideas that never get implemented, Seal Beach has run out of time, it needs the money, and now, she is not thrilled with the appearance of meters, but Main Street needs them, that is reality, and that needs to be faced. Mr. Ralph Lafriend, Belmont Shore, mentioned that the Council representative for the Shore attempted to increase the meter hours from 6:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. which also included the free Sunday parking, this was to increase revenue too, when the Parking Committee met the meeting was full, the majority were merchants who did not want the increased hours. When meters were invented in 1947 they were considered a money tree, constant flow of cash, predictable, but this has to do with the character of downtown Seal Beach, the merchants are doing well, there will always be some that do not, there also needs to be variety in businesses. He made reference to a city in Oregon that took their meters out because they ruined the character of that village, he also told a story relating to a parking citation he received in Old Town Pasadena, does he go back, no. Meters in Seal Beach will be a deterrent, there will be new, ongoing cash flow from the new shopping center, there is utility tax, if the police do not want to go sheriff then raise the utility tax to twelve percent, the City needs to be creative. I Ms. Paula Shears, Electric Avenue, disagreed with the cities that Seal Beach was compared to, this Main Street is shorter than any of those towns so it will look more crowded, will take away from the aesthetics of this town, there has to be another way rather than constantly ruining the town, her feeling is that putting the police department on the pier was a big mistake, they had promised to not put pOlice cars or parking there, that took away the ambiance, if a vote were taken on parking meters her belief is that the people would not want them. Mr. Woody Woodruff, Seal Beach merchant and property owner, stated that he has never supported building on the greenbelt or having a big box corporate on Main Street or doing anything that would destroy the town or uniqueness of the Street. He claimed that Main Street has changed in recent years, he does not drive it, it is crowded, people backing up, all in the name of free parking, he watches people park, go to the beach, they do not spend money but leave graffiti and trash, a few days ago he walked the 100 block in the afternoon, there was no one in the stores, two people in a coffee shop, and two people in each of two restaurants, but parking was full except for two twenty-four minute spaces, his feeling is that Main Street is not as unique as it used to be, putting meters on Main is going to destroy nothing, rather bring it back. Mr. Woodruff offered that the City has made some mistakes in the past but the situation is not all the City's fault, money has gone to the State budget, the City needs the money now, the streets are falling apart, this money will go to good use, he would like to see people present who really care about the Street, and he understands that some people do not like meters but he can see no other way. Mr. Bill Orton, Trailer Park, extended congratulations to Councilmember Antos on his election, Mayor Larson for his new position, and Councilmember Campbell for her representation of the City at the Sanitation District regarding the waiver issue. Mr. Orton claimed residency for twenty-two years, stated he does not like parking meters, or I 9-9-02 putting quarters in them, nor does he like tickets, yet he received one in front of Johns because his car extended into the red zone by about a foot, he has also received citations for not having change in his car in the location of his employment, as the officers are tough on meters in Santa Ana. Mr. Orton corrected a prior comment in that meters were actually brought forth in Oklahoma City in the mid-1930's. Mr. Ortin mentioned his candidacy for State Assembly, and acknowledged that the budget that was just passed is the worst in ten years, there has not been a worst State budget since 1992, there will not be a dime coming back to cities next year as it will be even worse. He reiterated that he does not like meters, nor putting in the quarters, but does the .City need the money, he believes it does, he is a supporter of having a police department that is a police department, he would like a Seal Beach fire department too even though the Fire Authority does a fine job, for years he has said that the utility tax is too high, yet he will not say to the City Council to cut and cut because the City has to fund the operations of government, that is one of the hardest things that a law maker must do, they make difficult choices, he does not necessarily think that putting meters on Main Street is all that bad. I Mr. Ron Bennett, Seal Beach, recalled that seven years ago he was asked to chair a committee to look into parking management on Main Street, they studied Belmont Shore in detail, they started their meter program in the 1980's, the parking lots behind the businesses and the alley were all purchased with meter money, their program has been successful. He came into this like everyone else, he does not like to put a quarter in a meter either, however when he goes to another community for dinner he puts money in meters and does not think about it, the Shore is the same way. He acknowledged that meters are a tax, the City will be accused of raising a tax, yet it is a democratic tax, you only pay if you use it. Mr. Bennett mentioned that last year he was asked to sit on another meter committee, at that point he felt he was not unbiased because of being aware of the facts and what happens, and the money that can be taken in, in this day in age it is not just parking management, it is income, does he really want to put a quarter in a meter, the answer is no, but if he is going to put money in a meter somewhere else then why would he not do that for his own city. There have been articles in the newspaper where people are so upset they are suggesting to raise the utility tax, raise this, raise that, that is nonsense, the people would not even approve a minimum amount for street sweeping and tree trimming, people bought houses for $50,000 that are now worth $650,000 but will not spend an extra dollar a month. Mr. Bennett said he understands if people disagree with meters because of aesthetics, if they are saying they are willing to pay more money that is doubtful, he personally is willing to pay a little more, he lives here, likes the community, does not want to see the City suffer, at one point there was a hundred sixty-five City employees, it is believed there is less than one hundred twenty today. Mr. Bennett said obviously parking meters are not high on his priority but they have been studied again, a good suggestion was made to limit parking to one hour from 5th to 12th Streets, and the people that live there, whether they rent or own, will obtain parking stickers so that they can park all day, that will probably solve a problem, the staff report was well thought out, the overwhelming number of people present are against meters, the staff and Council know there is a budget I I 9-9-02 problem, the Council has to have the courage to do what is best for the City, this may be a bitter pill but it has to be done. I Ms. Carla watson, Catalina Avenue, nearly forty year resident, said she did not think that the people have to take this kind of thing all the time, there was Mola, proposed development on the pier, condos on the greenbelt, the Council was in support, the people said no. Ms. Watson stated her concern is with the aesthetics, not because of the money, if the cost of a parking pass were to be raised she would not be opposed to that, however if she owned a business in the Vons Center she would be concerned because she will park her car there and walk to Main Street, she and a friend spend nearly every Saturday on Main Street, that is a way of life, they love the merchants, true it has changed, it may have a different flavor, but it is so much different than Redondo or Laguna Beach, no comparison to Huntington Beach. Ms. Watson suggested that the character of the City be given consideration, and asked if the budget needs to be balanced once again on the back of Old Town, try to figure another way to get the money, in times of financial crisis much care needs to be taken or civil liberties are lost, in times of monetary crisis care needs to be taken to not loose this small town, although she has not polled every merchant, those that she sees every Saturday are opposed to meters, care needs to be given to decisions made that will impact the City for a long time. Ms. Mary Parker Lewis stated she is a member of a family that has been here since this was Bay City, her home is on 8th Street and has been in the family for ninety some years. Ms. Lewis said she wished to read a statement from herself, family and friends expressing opposition to parking meters on Main Street. She stated that as it is now the streets adjacent to Main get considerable overflow parking from visitors to Main Street restaurants and businesses, meters will add to the number of cars seeking free parking on the adjacent streets, there will be an increase of cars circling the area in search of parking, this will negatively impact these areas and essentially turn them into quasi-commercial streets, those that live on these streets will be impacted by increased car fumes, traffic danger to children and elderly family members and virtually no opportunity to locate street parking for guests using guest passes purchased from the City or for residents who on occasion find it necessary or desirable to load or unload from the street in front of their homes, there is already heavier traffic and more congested parking than the rest of Old Town, meters would make it unbearable and unsafe. Ms. Lewis expressed her opinion that City discussions about this resolves none of the problems and questions nor takes in the quality of life for Old Town residents. She recalled being in the community when meters went in to generate revenue, the residents have all been diligently paying taxes, loving the City, cleaning the beach, some people for generations, it is not a revenue issue, it is a quality of life and character issue, she does not even feel it is an aesthetic issue. Ms. Lewis continued, that if the City insists upon placing meters on Main Street, over the objections of Old Town residents, they should minimize the negative impact on the immediately adjacent streets by making them legal parking only for those with residential permits, the tradeoff for not having to pay to park on Main would be having to walk a minimum of three blocks, while this might be a bearable compromise, it may be unacceptable to the Coastal Commission by further limiting access to the beach. She has no objection to persons inland I I 9-9-02 coming to enjoy the beach. She said it is also hard to believe that meters on Main are not going to have a negative impact on the Main Street businesses. When her family lived in the Lancaster and palmdale areas they put meters on the main streets, the residents went to the malls and never came back, a catastrophic economic effect. If it is thought that people are parking all day to go to the beach and not utilizing the beach lots, why are the tires not being marked and cars cited rather than installing meters, also, has the possibility of diagonal parking been looked into for Ocean or other wider streets, First Street an example, again this sounds like a revenue issue rather than a parking issue, and if so it should not be done on the back of Old Town. Ms. Lewis said they see considerable long-term problems for residents in Old Town as the price for a short-term solution to a budget shortfall, asked that the character of the Old Town residential area not be destroyed by the shortsighted plan. Ms. Lewis again stated her opposition to the parking meter plan as having potential to destroy the residential streets as family neighborhoods. Again, she said the dire talk about the budget and losing the Police Department is in her view nonsense, tough decisions have to made as to where the revenue goes, a half million dollars from parking meters makes Seal Beach a completely different village and is unacceptable. I Mr. Bill Vermulen, 10th Street, requested the Council to vote no on parking meters, it will move parking onto his street, create more pressure on his street, he would suggest a comparison to Balboa Island where there are no meters on Main Street, there are none in Corona del Mar. He said the intent is to keep this as a small, quiet community, it is the ambiance, a place people want to bring their children and raise their families, most of the people present would say no to meters, those that speak for meters are not from Old Town, the Old Town streets are in dire need of repair, there is grass growing in the cracks, he sees meters just pushing more traffic and parking onto the other streets. Mr. David Bayles, Catalina Avenue and businessman, confirmed that there are no meters in Santa Barbara but they have numerous parking lots that provide ninety minutes free and pay after that. Mr. Bayles said to him it is definitely a character issue, there is a big difference in Santa Barbara when compared to Redondo, Laguna, and Huntington Beach, Santa Barbara welcomes you with open arms in many different ways, an example, the dog issue there was very similar to that in Seal Beach, there frequent posts provide a supply of bags for pickups. He stated he is definitely opposed to meters on Main Street and did not feel that comparing Seal Beach to Laguna, Redondo and Huntington Beach is an apple to apple comparison, yet as a resident rather than a business owner he understands the necessity to generate revenue and he would be happy do his bit in some other way, he also does not feel that meters are a democratic way of dealing with the revenue issue because those who use it pay for it, to him a more democratic way would be to spread the need throughout all residents of Seal Beach. Mr. Stan Anderson, Seal Beach, made the statement that the City is stronger when people work together to solve problems, as Chair of the Parking Committee he tried to get a consensus from the Committee of ten local citizens who have worked and lived in Seal Beach for many years, what was presented at this meeting was some of the suggestions out of that Committee, concerns of the residents, visitors, and businesses, there are many passionate people present, their comments and ideas are needed, yet the delay in making a I I 9-9-02 I decision has cost the City dearly, he hoped that the Council has studied the Committee report and that it will help the Council in making a decision to improve parking in Seal Beach. Ms. Rebecca Marciniac, 8th Street, noted that the speakers are addressing aesthetics, character, etc., even though she shares those concerns and understands this is a tough and delicate balance to have to choose between revenue and the concerns of the people who work in live in Seal Beach. Her concern is the issue of safety for the children that live in the neighboring areas, those seeking parking will most likely make a number of passes through streets two to three blocks away to find free parking rather than using a metered space, that brings forth not only higher traffic and danger for children, but not knowing what cars are in the neighborhood, on Main Street there are businesses, strangers are expected, when one lives in a residential neighborhood it is felt children can be safe, it is known what cars are going down the street because they live there. I Ms. Joyce Parque, 6th Street, said it is ironic that the talk is about raising revenues because there is a deficit, at the same time there is a closed conference with labor negotiators, that is another pay increase and benefit package, that even with a $1 million deficit next year and climbing. Ms. Parque mentioned that she wrote a letter titled 'No New Taxes', revenue for this City is a code word for taxes, parking meters on Main Street will not solve the budget deficit, requiring Old Town residents to pay a premium of between $100 and $300 for a parking permit will not solve the parking or the deficit, the City presently has seventy- six meters from which gross revenues last year were $56,863, do the math for two hundred fifty-seven meters, people should not be fooled with talk of large revenues. Ms. parque claimed that business employees are taking spaces on Main Street and there is no enforcement by the Police Department on a regular basis, Animal Control and the Police Department will cost the City $7 million this year, can the taxpayers afford this, the fire retirement fund will cost the City nearly $1.1 million next year, that because the Council did not provide that funds be set aside when it became law in 2000. The City agreed to take money from business owners on Main Street for in-lieu parking to build a parking garage, but where is that money, there is no parking garage, a comment by a former member of the Council stated that 'people who bought houses during the Eisenhower administration pay nothing in property tax,' yet those people worked hard for their money and property, people voted for Proposition 13 because taxes were out of control. Ms. parque said nothing has changes, the City has the highest utility users tax in the State and the Council wants more, parking meters on Main Street will not solve the problem. A recent news article reported that people like going back to small towns, one of those was Petaluma, they do not have parking meters. Her information relating to parking meter revenue came from the City Finance Director, the fire retirement numbers came from the paper, the Police Department information came from the budget, the information relating to the cost and revenue from two hundred fifty-seven parking meters was from information provided by a previous speaker, yet there are currently parking meters that are broken because of the computers, the company is out of business, it is also understood that a lot of parking tickets are being thrown out of court, no more parking meters are needed, rather more thought from those on the Council to control the problems, and it is not certain that the City can afford a Police Department. Ms. Gaye I 9-9-02 Snyder, 3rd Street, thirty-one year resident, stated she does not attend meetings, is basically compliant and relies on whatever the City decides is in the best interest, pays her taxes, drives the 4th and Central round about, does not complain, however this issue brought her to the Council, this issue brings an emotional, hostile feeling, she does not shop in the Shore or Huntington Beach because of metered parking, even the lack of spaces, she would feel angry if she had to pay money to run into the local bakery shop or run an errand, it would make her feel negative about living here. Ms. Snyder asked that the Council vote against this proposal and find other ways to raise revenue and how it is spent, to spend all of that money for a roundabout and then put meters on Main Street makes no sense to her. Mr. Martin Fields, 1st Street, stated that his major concern with parking meters is aesthetics and the atmosphere that would be lost, however if it is found to be absolutely necessary to have that revenue that the park and pay system with the slip for the dashboard be considered, it is less disruptive aesthetically, people will get used to it as it is used allover the world, that might only require six or eight pay stations rather than have a meter on a pole at every other parking space on Main Street, whether it be one head or two on a pole they still look terrible. Ms. Susan Slesinger, 1st Street, stated that parking meters are aesthetically unpleasing, will change the entire character of Main Street, this Street has a small town feeling much different that in Laguna which is a tourist attraction and Huntington Beach which experiences a large number of out of state visitors, as to the reference to Old Pasadena, the reason meters where installed eventually was because there was a large discrepancy between the fees for the parking structures which the City had financed by bonds and the free parking on the streets, they were needed to help pay for the bonds even though underwritten. One of the reasons for putting in meters typically is to increase enforcement ability however there are other ways to do that with carefully trained enforcement staff, perhaps Seal Beach should look into that, also, has the City looked at allowing hourly parking in the beach lots, the pay stations are in place, as a rule they can be modified to allow hourly as well as all day parking, that might provide an additional resource especially on weekdays and off-season and provide additional revenue from people who use the side streets. If meters are put in, besides changing the character and detracting from Main Street, people who come here antiquing will go to Old Town orange at that point because there are as many or more antique shops there and no parking fees. Another issue that needs to be addressed is parking for other centers, the Bay City Center as an example falls under the Coastal Commission, that lot is forbidden from having any parking enforcement or controlling access to its lot, if one hour parking is imposed on the side streets up to and including 5th Street it is most likely that some of the shoppers will end up parking in that Center, hurting the businesses that rely on the concept of shared parking in order to work because there are evening businesses as well as the daytime businesses, the impact could be as far as 1st Street. Ms. Colleen Crawson, twenty- five year 8th Street resident, suggested that the one hour parking be enforced that currently exists, some people park six to seven hours in front of her home, they are not cited, yet she parks six to seven blocks away, if there was enforcement possibly the meters would not be needed. Mr. Darren Mullin, 8th Street, as a resident for only a year and a half said he was drawn to the community as being similar to the small town in which he grew up and he found Seal Beach I I I 9-9-02 I rather charming. Mr. Mullin said anyone can raise taxes to gain revenue in the City but good management finds other ways, the presentation to him looked more like a sales presentation for parking meters, there were no alternatives for anything other than parking meters, no study as to the average time that people park on Main Street, what the impact would be if the regulations in place now were enforced, no study on traffic or safety, other revenue sources, financial impact on businesses, he would ask the City to do some due diligence relating to this issue, find good ways to impact the finances of the City other than benchmarking other cities in the area that have installed meters, if the City is only going to benchmark then pay them to run this City, find ways to impact this unique City that are unique to this City and fit the needs of the community. Mr. Barry Hartwyk, Crestview Avenue, said he lived in Belmont Shore yet was reluctant to shop there simply because of the meters, it is an environment that is abrasive, why should he pay additional funds for things that he is already paying for, he grew up in a small town on the East coast, has a beach house there, there are no meters, small beach communities can survive without parking meters. He stated he is a stockbroker, this reminds him of being an analyst on Wall Street, they would make favorable opinions so that they would get additional banking fees. Many of the people who favor having meters want Main Street improved, that is because they own property on Main Street, want the value of their property to go up, Main Street is for the whole community, the City, the budgets, not for putting in parking meters. Mr. Hartwyk said he walks to Main Street to do his business, has seen the people in the stores watching their cars to make sure they are not marked, he has then entered the store and inquire if they knew of the consideration of installing parking meters for the reason of keeping traffic moving, yet it was their employees that were using the parking, the responses were that they knew nothing about it. Parking meters were installed in two of the lots for the purpose of getting merchants off of Main Street and out of the parking lots, but that did not work, now they park on Main Street, everyone knew that would happen, it was known that was just a means of getting meters on Main Street. Most people who live here, pay taxes, elect their officials, want this to remain a small community, his belief also is that most people would be willing to pay a little extra to have better streets, sidewalks, and a better community. Ms. Mitzi Morton, Seal Beach, stated that ever since she has lived in Seal Beach all of the controversy has been about Main Street, always Main Street not the residents, many battles with the merchants and restaurants and residents to keep it the way it is, and according to the study the proposal is to take fifty percent of the meter revenue and put it back on Main Street, thousands of dollars has already been spent to improve Main Street, as far as she is concerned it is the merchants again that want this revenue. She said she and her husband try to frequent Main Street and do their business here, that is the first priority before they go out of town, yet she will not be taxed $25 to $30 per month by putting quarters in a meter in order to cater to the local merchants, she will go elsewhere. She claimed that all of the people wanting to park will be shoved on the residential streets, change the all day parking on one side of the street to one hour, what are contractors supposed to do, where will they park when they are doing work at the homes. Given no objection from the Council, Mayor Larson declared the public information hearing closed. I I 9-9-02 It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council, to declare a recess at 8:37 p.m. The Council reconvened at 8:50 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order. At the invitation of the Council, Mr. Melody a member of the Grace Community Church congregation, announced that the Church will be holding the first anniversary candlelight vigil to remember 9/11 on September 11th in the evening commencing with a prayer service, from 7:30 to.7:45 all participants will gather on the lawn of the church for a lighting of candles and a procession to Eisenhower Park where there will be patriotic songs and a moment of silence to remember the sixty law enforcement officers, the one hundred forty-three fire fighters and the thousands of civilians who lost their lives when the aircraft hit the Pentagon and the World Trade Center. Mr. Melody stated that everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend the memorial of the largest disaster ever on the United States by an enemy of the United States. I PARKING METERS - continued Councilman Yost stated that he has traditionally been against meters, most of his constituency are against meters, he ran for office because he wanted Seal Beach to be a special place and continue to be so, what makes it charming are things that people would like to exploit, his feeling is that meters will change the character of Main Street, the comment that a crisis should not lead one to make a snap decision is probably quite valid, this should be given more thought as it may be irreversible, again, he is against meters. Councilman Antos recalled that initially the purpose of the Ad Hoc Parking Committee was to deal with parking management, last year it shifted to meters, his belief is that parking management includes beach parking, merchant and employee parking, as well as resident parking, his belief too is that discussions should have included previous programs such as in-lieu parking, the money was collected to be used for some means of providing parking, that was not done, his feeling is that that money no longer exists. I Councilman Antos noted that he attended a July 1st Committee meeting, at that point the Committee seemed to feel it had concluded its work, recommended parking meters and a pay parking system to the City Council, upon speaking to Councilman Doane there was agreement that another meeting could be held which occurred on August 19th, at that time he provided some modifications and changes to the parking study to deal with parking management where he felt it had not been dealt with, beach parking lots being one where information showed that the beach lots were being used under a fifty percent level, people continued to park on the street rather than paying to use the beach lots, he felt something had to be done to encourage beach lot use, he proposed to expand the one hour parking on both sides of the street from 5th to 12th Street where it currently only applies to 8th and 10th Streets, this would encourage people to pay for their parking in the beach lots therefore not park on the streets, however parking enforcement by the Police Department would be of utmost importance. Initially there was a proposal to put some meters on residential streets, he proposed that that be dropped, his feeling is that meters do not belong on a residential street. He also wanted to do something about the merchant and employee parking as he had been told by a number of people that not only do the beachgoers use Main Street but the employees and merchants as well which basically deprives I 9-9-02 I themselves of paying customer parking, to that he proposed that the merchants be allowed to park in the one hour zones. Councilman Antos said he had also been informed that about seventy percent of the Main Street merchants favored parking meters, to that he put out a survey to every business that was open, he then compiled the numbers however not the suggestions and comments as yet, twenty-nine percent of the merchants did not know of the parking meter proposal, seventy-seven percent of the merchants oppose meters, nineteen percent favor meters, sixty-nine percent of the merchants said it would adversely affect their businesses and/or employees, and seventy percent replied that their customers oppose meters, those numbers are from the seventy surveys returned. He also distributed a public notice in the downtown area relating to this meeting and invited residents to call him with comments, about ninety-five percent of those he talked to opposed meters, therefore the residents and the businesses are opposed. Councilman Antos stated he questioned some of the projections on revenue, it is not certain that revenue will be what is projected by staff. Based on the comments at this meeting and the feedback he has had from the businesses and residents of the area as far as parking meters are concerned, he opposes them, yet he believes that some of the parking management items should be expanded in order to make parking better, there should be more enforcement in the Main Street area, the removal of chalk marks an example, also do something to free up parking for customers that corne to town to support the businesses, he does not want to see parking meters and vacant store fronts. I Councilman Doane mentioned that he had been one of the original members of the parking Committee, at the time it was formed the City Manager was still in Dana Point, the Committee was formed to study parking management, revenue was not a consideration at the time, it was to try to find a way to encourage beachgoers to park in the beach lots, a large lot that even in mid-summer is about forty percent filled, that is why there is a problem on Main Street, yet a beachgoer ca not be denied the right to park on Main Street, but that could be controlled with meters and that is why they were suggested, meters were a consideration before the budget crisis, the Committee tried to get the other issues out of the way first so that there could be concentration on meters, nonetheless meters were always a consideration. There were members of the Committee that proposed plans to increase the permit fees for the residents, that met with the same kind of response that is being heard at this meeting, particularly residents that attend churches in the downtown area, they did not want to not be able to buy parking permits or an increase of the cost of the permits, that was a separate issue and has still not been resolved, after the meter system is dealt with then the Committee will look at the other issues relating to the parking management problem which Councilman Antos alluded to, it is good that he is on the Committee as there are problems other "than Main Street. Councilman Doane noted that after the City Manager came to Seal Beach he discovered the dire financial situation, when the Council placed two small tax issues on the ballot they met resounding defeat, the City needed revenue, the Council was shown the shortfall during the budget process, that has only been resolved for this year, next year the deficit is worse, revenue needs to come from some place, the parking meters will help but that was not the original intent of meters, the intent was to get beachgoers to the beach parking so that people who wish to shop on Main Street can find a place to park. He mentioned I 9-9-02 discussing revenue enhancements with former City Manager Bankston, his suggestion was that there needed to be a 'shop locally' campaign, to that Councilman Doane said he took that upon himself to work through the Leisure World News, writing articles to encourage people to shop locally, those articles actually enticed people to come and shop Main Street yet in many instances the response from those persons was that they could not find a place to park. Again, beachgoers need to use the beach lots, shoppers could then use Main Street. Councilman Doane said he has heard a lot of good reasoning, originally the Committee had determined to have activated meters until 8:00 p.m., however it was pointed out people who want to frequent the restaurants will go to the side streets to park because the parking restrictions end at 6:00 p.m., therefore although that is an impact on revenue the Committee reversed its decision and reduced the meter hours to 6:00 p.m., that out of respect to those who reside on adjacent streets. Councilman Doane stated that if there was another way he would not be suggesting meters, he would hope this proposal is approved, the revenue is needed, a solution to the parking problem is needed, the study entailed a lot of work, is very comprehensive, and his desire is to move ahead. I Councilmember Campbell noted the repeated comments that this City has the highest utility tax, it does not, there is eleven percent on gas, electric, and telephones, there is no utility tax on water or cable, as an example the City of Long Beach pays ten percent on all utilities, they are the highest, if Seal Beach were to apply the utility tax to water and cable the percentage could be reduced to eight percent and still realize the same revenue. She explained that the City is having a difficult time balancing the budget, people say do something, now something is being done, but no matter what is done there are people who will not like it, the voters were asked to approve an increase for street sweeping, the annual cost would not even equal the price of a half tank of gas, people tip more than that at dinner, she now has people in her District that are asking if those measures can be put back on the ballot with the comments that if Old Town and the Hill do not want it then let it apply to College Park East, they want their streets cleaned once a week, to that she noted that the debris from the street sweeper is tested, what is being picked up is terrible, debris and chemicals, which is then walked into peoples homes. Councilmember Campbell said she supports residential stickers for the side streets. To the comment that meters are divisive, Councilmember Campbell said that needs to stop, Seal Beach is not just Old Town, it is the Hill, Leisure World, College Park East, College Park West, all are part of Seal Beach, all have different needs, yet will end up paying in different ways, a few years ago the Council voted to develop a shopping center, in this case there are seventy people that do not want this, in that case signatures of three thousand people were submitted that did not want the shopping center, the Council however decided that the revenue was needed, the City budget is now in even tighter circumstances, everyone in this City is going to have to pay, there is no choice, additional sources of revenue are necessary. Councilmember Campbell offered that she personally hates parking meters, detests having to think ahead of time that she needs to have quarters, she does not want this to be a divisive issue, everyone needs to work together, everyone will have to pay for this City in different ways, she hears from her people that they hate the traffic in and around the Bixby and Rossmoor Shopping Centers, and there is a traffic light every I I 9-9-02 I thousand feet, however that is what they live with, and are contributing to the City, everyone knows that the revenue is needed, and when the Rossmoor Center is finished the economic engine of this City will be north of the 405 Freeway, but everyone needs to help in their own way. She recalled the Mola era where this City was very united, unfortunately votes have been taken on projects since then that have divided the City, she does not want to see it divided more, everyone needs to help, one section of the City just can not say we do not want this, there are wants and needs, CPE needs streets paved, Old Town needs alleys paved, there is a need to get the berm up, need to get sand replenished, CPE kids are not riding bikes to school anymore because traffic is so bad, there are a lot of needs. Councilmember Campbell said again that the budget is a crisis, there are real problems, if there is inadequate revenue then expenses need to be cut, that means bodies, to that she said her vote will be in support of parking meters. I Mayor Larson noted the many statements made, the opinions of people are honestly held for good reasons, there were open hearings on the budget process, people talked and heard the various arguments, some of the comments are being reheard, one of which is that the City can raise money some other way, to that Mayor Larson emphasized that the City can not raise money some other way, the right to raise property tax was taken away by the people under proposition 13, other provisions prohibit the City from raising fees, therefore revenue sources are pretty much limited to going to the legislature with a notable lack of success, cities no longer go to the legislature to ask for more money rather ask that they do not take away what there is, it is hoped that they do not take away when they have their budget rewrite. He mentioned that during the City budget process he wanted everyone to see what it means to take away money, whether you reduce police or lifeguards, he personally announced that he did not want to reduce police or beach safety, yet other things will have to be changed. Mayor Larson said he, like Councilman Doane, reside in Leisure World, the question was what do they care about streets, the City does not fix Leisure World streets, local taxes do not fix those streets, they fix their own streets, sweep their own streets, plant their own trees, have their own swimming pool and golf course, when the County was broke and lost the library Leisure World bought the library, yet Leisure World residents pay the same taxes as others in the City, they will be paying the parking meters as well when they come to downtown, Old Town may not like the looks of meters but they will be paid for by those that do not live in Old Town. Mayor Larson agreed that this is a hard decision, it would be nice if the City had enough money to vote on everything based on aesthetics, but that is not so. Councilman Yost mentioned again that the budget is balanced for this year, asked if this decision needs to be made at this time, could it wait six months or a year, by the number of speakers there were three to one speakers against and by the survey of Councilman Antos there was the same ratio of businesses. Councilman Doane mentioned that he too made a survey and it did not agree with that of Councilman Antos, also responded that the report from staff advised as to how long it will take before a meter is actually seen on Main Street because of the different approval process, etc. I Councilman Doane moved to accept the recommendation of staff to approve the parking management plan and direct staff to 9-9-02 proceed with the actions necessary to implement the program, approve the introduction of Ordinance Number 1489 entitled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH REGARDING PARKING METERS AND AMENDING CHAPTER 13 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH." Councilman Doane noted that the staff recommendation was adoption of the second proposed Resolution relating to allocation of parking meter revenues, his feeling is that that should be acted upon separately, his motion is specific to the introduction of the Ordinance. Councilmember Campbell seconded the motion for introduction of Ordinance Number 1489. By unanimous consent, full reading of Ordinance Number 1489 was waived. I AYES: NOES: Campbell, Larson, Doane Antos, Yost Motion carried Mayor Larson inquired if it was necessary to take an action on one or the other of the Resolutions relating to "ALLOCATION OF PARKING METER FEES" at this time. The response of staff was that it would be best. Councilman asked if revenue can be dictated in the manner proposed. City Attorney advised that it is within the discretion of City Council to apportion the proceeds in the manner felt be appropriate, and as to whether it is necessary, the response was that it is not necessary for the Council to take an action, that was a recommendation of the parking Committee, therefore the funds could be spent as necessary. Councilman Yost recommended that no action be taken, it is difficult to determine where the City will be when and if revenues do corne in. Councilman Antos expressed his opinion that whatever revenue is raised should be earmarked to something, he would not like it to just go to the General Fund, if the revenues are parking related then his feeling is that they should go to parking related things such as street improvements. Councilman Doane clarified that the intent could be to, merely delay an action until such time as revenues are forthcoming and what the needs are at that time. It was confirmed that before the revenue is spent it will come back to the Council for consideration. Yost The the to I Yost moved, second by Doane, to take no action on either of the proposed resolutions at this time. AYES: NOES: ABSTAIN: Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Antos Motion carried PUBLIC COMMENTS Mayor Larson declared the Public Comment period open. Mr. Bill Ortin, Trailer Park, commended all that spoke to the prior issue, stated that he is running for Assembly because he believes in the civic process, he feels it is a good thing when people corne out to express their views, the citizenry handled themselves well, while they mayor may not agree with the vote of the Council he felt that the Council had a difficult task. Stating again that he is running for Assembly, Mr. Orton said last November he obviously checked the wrong box on a candidate form therefore his candidate . statement will not be included in the sample ballot, therefore he read his two hundred fifty-word candidate statement. Ms. Carla Watson, Catalina Avenue, mentioned her disappointment relating to parking meters, she recalled having told the City Manager about a year ago that when there I 9-9-02 I are school bond elections there is no need to stop at one election, and to CouncilmemberCampbell suggested that she listen to her constituents, maybe that election needs to be held again, the first election was not done well in terms of educating the public, why not do it again, bond issues do not pass the first time. Ms. Watson said the action taken at this meeting is historic, her feeling is that the Council does not spend that much time on Main Street, if they did they would have a different view of the action. Mayor Larson recalled that after the street sweeping and tree trimming measures he had stated that he would not vote for another tax such as that unless the people by initiative propose it. Mr. William Ward stated that in 1950 he was in Seal Beach when the Korean War began, in 1962 he came back from boot camp to Seal Beach. Mr. Ward said he is a member of the American Legion, past commander of the VFW and represents the Vietnam Veterans of America, presented a report from the Department of Defense accounting for those persons missing in action, he is personally interested in those missing from the Vietnam War, the names of personnel from all branches of the service are listed, reminded that the Vietnam Memorial Highway is Pacific Coast Highway from the River to Redondo Beach, he presented a POW/MIA flag, a poster of POW/MIA Recognition Day on September 20th, he read from a book of names of those missing in action, one being paul Eugene Sweigert, United States Navy, from Seal Beach, stated that when the call of the Country was heard Paul Eugene Sweigert answered, self was forgotten in the cause for the greater good, as a brave man he marched away with an abiding faith in his God, his Country, and his Flag, his virtues should be cherished and learned to imitate them, he then presented copies of a brochure bearing the name of Paul Sweigert and telling how he went down in the China Sea and was never recovered, and provided a booklet of ceremonies that can be performed in commemorating this man. A proposal, Mr. Ward said the City has in its possession a check for $500, he would like to have a receipt, the money is to erect a monument to Paul Sweigert at Eisenhower Park. Mr. Stan Anderson, Seal Beach, noted that Paul Sweigert was a good friend of his, he knew him well, went to high school and played ball together, he and his wife frequented his restaurant when it was in Sunset Beach, he never saw his young child, he was taken in the Vietnam War, the monument would be a wonderful thing to do, and hopefully others will support it. Mayor Larson designated Mr. Anderson as a committee of one to follow through with the request. Ms. Joyce parque, 6th Street, reminded all that the issue of parking meters will go to the Coastal Commission next, the people will be there. In response to a comment from Council, Ms. Parquet noted that the downtown area has a street called Pacific Coast Highway, the children in this area can not walk across that street without someone being there, she would like to see how many cars are on PCH versus Lampson, there was an accident at Balboa where a child was killed, there is a lot of traffic on many streets and alleys. Ms. parque questioned how the representatives can vote on something that affects her life yet she is not allowed to go into the gated Leisure World community with their pool, golf course, etc., they do not pay the school Mello/Roos, she does, but, the downtown people do have the Coastal Commission. Councilmember Campbell questioned whether Leisure World voted on the Mello/Roos. Ms. Sue Corbin, Seal Beach, said she believed that the answer to the prior comments was that Leisure World secede from the City then Rossmoor could be brought in. Ms. Corbin said the vote on parking meters was a hostile vote, payback time, I I 9-9-02 during budget meetings staff provided a list of cuts, they were not very serious, the Council had no serious proposals, the City will get hit hard in 2003, the Council is doing nothing about it, this will not solve the problem, employees in City Hall will need to go, those that do not want to do their work, harass the residents, they do not want to serve the public, employees need to get their own cell phone for personal calls, there needs to be a list of all of the cars and what they are used for, the cost for each car, the City should be run like a business, that is not being done, people do not even show up for work. She claimed that the in-lieu money was used for beautification, that was an illegal scheme, collection of $100 per parking space when it should have been $3,000, the City did not tell true to the Coastal Commission. Ms. Corbin stated she did not hear the Council talk about cutting expenses, they came to budget meetings with no ideas, there will be hostile people in 2003 when they find that the City has not been taken care of, nothing has been done regarding the business licenses, the responsibility of the Mayor is merely to conduct the meetings and represent the City, the Council needs to decide where there will be cuts, that needs to be done now. There being no further comments, Mayor Larson declared Public Comments to be closed. I APPOINTMENT - GENERAL PLAN/LOCAL COASTAL PLAN ADVISORY COMMITTEE Councilman Doane moved to appoint Ms. Gayle Colden as the District Five representative to the General Plan/Local Coastal Plan Advisory Committee. Mayor Larson seconded the motion. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I VOTING DELEGATES - ANNUAL LEAGUE OF CALIFORNIA CITIES CONFERENCE Antos moved, second by Yost, to designate Mayor Larson as the voting delegate for the League of California Cities Conference business meeting, and Councilmember Campbell as the alternate voting delegate. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried CONSENT CALENDAR - ITEMS "D" thru "M" Doane moved, second by Antos, to approve the recommended action for items on the Consent Calendar as presented, except for Items "F, G, J and M", removed for separate consideration. The City Attorney read the title of Ordinance Number 1487, Transportation Demand Management, in full. D. Approved the waiver of reading in full of all ordinances and resolutions and that consent to the waiver of reading shall be given by all members of the Council after reading of the title unless specific request is made at that time for the reading of such ordinance or resolution. I E. Approved regular demands numbered 38733 through 39034 in the amount of $751,269.33, payroll demands numbered 17319 through 17509, and 927730 in the amount of $204,266.28, and authorized warrants to be drawn on the Treasury for same. 9-9-02 H. A- Adopted Resolution Number 5055" entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH DECLARING WORK TO BE COMPLETED AS TO PLANS AND SPECIFICATIONS FOR SEAL BEACH BOULEVARD TRAFFIC SIGNAL FIBER OPTIC INTERCONNECT SYSTEM, PROJECT #50011, CONTRACT ENTERED INTO BETWEEN BROADBAND POWERING SERVICES, INC. AND THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5055 was waived. I I. Adopted Resolution Number 5056 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH ACCEPTING PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS AND AUTHORIZING THE RELEASE OF SECURITY FOR BEACHWALK 7, LLC, TRACT NO. 15832" (Avalon Homes). By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5056 was waived. K. Adopted Ordinance Number 1487 entitled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH AMENDING ORDINANCE NUMBER 1338 REGARDING TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT." By unanimous consent, full reading of Ordinance Number 1487 was waived. I L. Approved the minutes of the regular adjourned meeting of May 30, 2002, the regular adjourned meeting of June 5, 2002, and the regular adjourned and regular meetings of June 10, 2002. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT CALENDAR ITEM "F" - SALE OF SURPLUS PROPERTY Councilman Antos mentioned some of the items on the list of surplus property to be auctioned, and inquired if the $7,500 was a conservative estimate of the resulting revenue. The City Manager cited the estimate as conservative however mentioned that it is not certain that the auctioneer will even take some of the items which may ultimately need to be scrapped. Antos moved, second by Larson, to approve the sale of the surplus property at auction. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried I ITEM "G" - ORDINANCE NUMBER 1488 - BUILDING CODES with regard to the 'Reroofing' section of the proposed Ordinance Councilmember Campbell stated she would like to see this City outlaw shake roofs, to that she made reference to a number of fires in College Park East as a result of shake roofs, at this point most of the residents have reroofed, however there are at least two houses reroofed with treated shakes, yet the treatment only lasts for a few years then they become just as vulnerable as the old shakes. She reported having observed the damage that shake roof fires have done, within seconds can spread to other roofs, this is a matter of safety, it is understood too that if someone is building an addition they are allowed to roof with shake if that is the composition of the existing roof. The Director of Development Services noted that assuming the Council adopts the first reading of this Ordinance, a public hearing 9-9-02 will be held on September 23rd, between now and the hearing possibly staff can research the issue with the building official and the Fire Authority for some additional suggestions that the Council may wish to consider at that time, this is the introduction of the Ordinance, a public hearing will then be held, and adoption of the Ordinance can then take place, that is the process under State law. Campbell moved, second by Doane, to approve the introduction of Ordinance Number 1488 entitled "AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING BY REFERENCE THE 2001 CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE, INCORPORATING THE UNIFORM BUILDING CODE VOLUMES 1, 2, AND 3, 1997 EDITION, INCLUDING ALL APPENDICES THERETO; THE 2001 CALIFORNIA PLUMBIN CODE, INCORPORATION THE UNIFORM PLUMBIN CODE, 2000 EDITION, INCLUDING ALL APPENDICES THERETO; THE 2001 CALIFORNIA MECHANICAL CODE, INCORPORATING THE UNIFORM MECHANICAL CODE, 2000 EDITION, INCLUDING ALL APPENDICES THERETO; THE 2001 CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE" INCORPORATING THE UNIFORM FIRE CODE, 2000 EDITION, INCLUDING ALL APPENDICES THERETO; THE 2001 CALIFORNIA ELECTRICAL CODE, INCORPORTING THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE, 1999 EDITION, INCLUDING ALL APPENDICES THERETO, AND INCLUDING THE UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE CODE PROVISIONS FOR THE NATIONAL ELECTRICAL CODE, 1999 EDITION; THE UNIFORM HOUSING CODE, 1997 EDITION; THE UNIFORM ADMINISTRATIVE CODE, 1997 EDITION; THE UNIFORM SIGN CODE, 1997 EDITION; THE UNIFORM SOLAR ENERGY CODE, 2000 EDITION; THE UNIFORM BUILDNG SECURITY CODE, 1997 EDITION; THE UNIFORM CODE FOR THE ABATEMENT OF DANGEROUS BUILDINGS, 1997 EDITION; THE UNIFORM SWIMMING POOL, SPA AND HOT TUB CODE, 2000 EDITION, AND APPENDIX CHAPTER 1 OF THE CALIFORNIA CODE FOR BUILDING CONSERVATION, INCORPORATING APPENDIX CHAPTER 1 OF THE UNIFORM CODE FOR BUILDING CONSERVATION, 1997 EDITION, MAKING AMENDMENTS THERETO, AND AMENDING PORTIONS OF CHAPTER 5 OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH." By unanimous consent, full reading of Ordinance Number 1488 was waived. I I AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEM "J" - WEST END PUMP STATION - STATUS REPORT Councilmember Campbell inquired as to when this project will take place, from the report it appears the new pumpstation will be on Oakwood property rather than the Trailer Park, her concern is that the improvements that Linc Housing wants to make to the streets in the Trailer Park have been held up pending the construction of the Pump Station which will require moving in heavy equipment, from the report it appears that the Station will not be impacting the Trailer Park. The Deputy City Engineer responded that the construction anticipated will. not adversely affect the roads, they should be able to pave the roads, and that has been indicated to them. Campbell moved, second by Yost, to receive and file the.status report and concur with the proposed strategy and phasing for the proposed West End Pump Station Improvement Project Number 50050. I AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried ITEM "M" - RESOLUTION NUMBER 5057 - GUM GROVE PARK - DEDICATION AND GRANT DEED With regard to the wording of the Grant Deed Councilman Antos said he knows that quite often deeds for open space are subject to conditions such as being kept as a park, this 9-9-02 I Deed is written with conditions "A" through "J", terms and conditions of the Coastal Permit, but there is nothing in the Deed that allows any modifications if the Coastal Commission chooses to modify any of the terms and conditions, therefore the property would revert back to the Hellman family. The City Attorney responded that the Deed was reviewed, acknowledged that it is unusual in that it cites all of the conditions imposed by the Coastal Commission, the likelihood of the Commission making changes is not known, however changes are not anticipated, and mentioned that representatives of the Hellman family were present, they have had years of discussions with the Commission. In reference to the Conditions, "a" is consistent with most deeds, "b" requires compliance with the ADA, the same with "c", signage, "d", is subject to approval by the Coastal Commission so there could be changes to that but no reversion back to the Hellman family, the hours of operation, "e", that would go back to the Coastal Commission so there is some flexibility there, there will be no change in "f", signage, they would not change that, "g" relates to dogs being leashed, that is actually in the City's ordinance, the Commission would not change that, "h" relates to the removal of trees and they would not change that, "I" relates to recreation facilities, and "j", the trail from Seal Beach Boulevard, has always been a concern of everyone. The City Attorney noted that the concern is valid yet if the conditions are looked at individually there is no concern with the Commission changing those conditions. Councilman Antos referred to "J-1" as a concern, dependent upon what happens, because it is understood that when the Gum Grove was under lease it was open from dawn to dusk but there was a gate that was closed at night, and dependent upon problems that may occur over time with free access from Seal Beach Boulevard there may be a need for security or a police officer or go back to the Coastal Commission for permission to lock a gate an hour after dusk, that is a modification that is not provided for in this deed, and could require modification. Councilmember Campbell agreed, the area needs to be locked from dusk to sunrise, that is similar to what is done at Arbor Park which is technically on Air Station property, this could be a safety problem for the homes above Gum Grove, actually there should be only one access. Councilman Yost said he has spoken to this issue before the Coastal Commission no less than four times, he even brought the Police Chief to argue the issue, it is frustrating, and each time the members of the Commission just look at you and say no. The Director of Development Services explained that the gate at Crestview can still be closed, the condition relates to the new access from Seal Beach Boulevard, as indicated by Councilman Yost he has been to Commission hearings, the Police Chief, City Manager, and himself to make this issue abundantly clear to the Coastal Commission, for security purposes the City felt it was advisable to have the ability to close off the access from Seal Beach Boulevard in the evenings, that made no difference to the Commission, that was the condition of approval for the project to proceed. His recollection however was that during discussions there was indication that if this does become a safety issue the City could go back to the Commission to seek an amendment to the permit, that they would deal with that once it is known that there is a public safety issue caused by the access, until that point the Commission has strongly stuck to their position that is reflected in this Deed document, the representatives of Hellman could reinforce that understanding if necessary. The Director acknowledged the concern of Councilman Antos, there I I 9-9-02 is a general provision in the permit itself that if there is need to modify any of these conditions another application would need to be made to the Coastal Commission, it may be something that would require full Commission consideration or maybe something that the Executive Director could make the change, should that ever become necessary the City would discuss with the Hellman's a modification to the Deed as part of that same process, also, there is a memorandum provided the Council this evening with one further change from the Commission that the City just became aware of this date on a portion of the property as to whether or not it should be granted to the City or the developer of the homes, that is a recent modification based upon that condition, therefore there is some flexibility, the Hellman's have always worked with the community in an understanding manner, it is not felt that their position would be to hold the.process up over a minor change to a condition subject to the issues of active recreation uses in that area, it is felt that has always been a concern both of the Hellman family and the Coastal Commission. Question was posed if the members of the Coastal Commission have ever been encouraged to visit the site directly. Councilman Yost stated he had done that, he gave voting members of the Commission a personal tour of the site, it made no difference. Mayor Larson reiterated his opinion that this is piracy, stated that the Coastal Commission is engaged in all kinds of land grabs that probably are not lawful, then they tell Seal Beach how to run a City and how to run a park, Councilman Yost did a wonderful job of presenting the information to the Coastal Commission and they still said no. Mayor Larson offered that he had said earlier that he would vote against this item as a matter of principal because this has been hoisted upon the City by the Coastal Commission who will not even come to look at the property and do not seem to understand that the City has a legitimate concern to benefit the existing and new property owners and the open area, the City has done all it can, the conditions were agreed to some time ago. with regard to additional comments, the Director noted that there is a condition to allow the City to post the property that it will be closed at dusk, it is believed that there is an existing sign at Crestview that says that now, at the other end there will just not be a physical structure to close off the area. Staff requested that action on this item be held for just a few minutes in order to confer with the Hellman representative. The City Council agreed. I I CITY MANAGER REPORT The Manager reported that the 'Slick the Seal,' the logo for the water quality campaign and in honor of Steve Stockett, is kicking off, it is a homeowners guide that will be sent with the water bills over the next couple of months relating to sewer lateral maintenance, basically what can be done regarding tree root problems and grease blockage which are the two leading causes of sewer overflows. There is also a restaurant guide for grease control which will be forwarded to each restaurant, both were basically borrowed from the Costa Mesa Sewer District and with the help of in-house staff it is virtually a no cost item. Councilman Antos requested a word change in the homeowner's guide, the first word under the 'Seal' should be 'are'. The City Manager said somehow through the State budget process apparently the City will receive the $800,000 for replacement of the beach groin, application has been made about five times, then with regard to the Proposition 13 Grant staff continues to get positive feedback, that is the $1.1 million for the Hellman wetlands I 9-9-02 restoration, there should be some definitive word about October, that will require a match of about $200,000. I GUM GROVE PARK - GRANT DEED - continued The City Attorney said he had discussed this issue with the Hellman representatives, in the event the City would be successful in obtaining an amendment to the Permit, the Hellman's would have no problem changing the Grant Deed and delete or modify that condition in accordance with any amendment, they are willing to go on record to say that. Mr. Dave Bartlett, Hellman representative, stated it is frustrating on the part of Hellman also with regard to the Coastal Commission, and it has taken a long time. Mr. Bartlett said unfortunately the Grant Deed mirrors the exact condition language that is in the Permit, and for the record they will modify the Grant Deed if the City applies for an amendment to the Permit to allow fencing along Seal Beach Boulevard for a more controlled access in and out of the Park, which is the way it should be, it is felt there is a fairly strong case for that, and a good point was made during the discussion that the access has to first be in place and then take the issue back to the Commission, the City would be filing the amendment, there would be no fee involved, and it is quite certain that he and Mr. Tone would be there in support. I Antos moved, second by Yost, to adopt Resolution Number 5057 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH ACCEPTING THE CONVEYANCE OF GUM GROVE PARK PROPERTY FROM HELLMAN PROPERTIES LLC." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5057 was waived. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried . CITY ATTORNEY REPORT - Item "0" - RESOLUTION NUMBER 5058 OPPOSING AB 1866 - REOUESTING VETO The City Attorney confirmed that this had been placed on the agenda for the reason that an e-mail was received this afternoon from the League of California Cities, an attachment to the agenda memo, as this matter requires an action before the next Council meeting. The Attorney said it is understood that AB 1866 is on the Governor's desk for signature, it came to the attention of the Council this date after the posting of the agenda. The Attorney explained that the State legislature has adopted a change to the Government Code concerning second units which would take away any discretion on the part of the City to condition or disallow a second unit single family residence, it is another imposition on local control, the most recent of a long series of changes to the housing law, put in by Sacramento, imposing restrictions on the cities own power to control zoning within the City. With the memorandum is a draft letter to the Governor and a resolution opposing AB 1866. I Yost moved, second by Antos, to adopt Resolution Number 5058 entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SEAL BEACH OPPOSING AB 1866 (WRIGHT) AND REQUESTING GOVERNOR'S VETO." By unanimous consent, full reading of Resolution Number 5058 was waived. AYES: NOES: Antos, Campbell, Doane, Larson, Yost None Motion carried 9-9-02 The City Attorney advised that the City Manager will sign the letter and forward it the following day. Councilmember Campbell mentioned that there is another bill, AB 2333, that requests landlords to do a pre-inspection before a tenant moves out, to that she offered that an inspection can not be done while the tenant has their furniture in place. I COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilmember Campbell said to get on the Council you represent a Council District but when on the Council you represent the entire City, stated she has been involved in airport issues, also a member of the Sanitation District, she wanted that appointed position because she felt strongly about voting against the waiver, there is a problem with the ocean, the sewage is pumped four and a half miles off of Huntington Beach, there is effort to try to stop that, there is a plume that is four miles by three miles and two hundred feet thick, it is moving, they say that it is not hazardous, but before you can cleanup the ocean you first have to stop polluting it. She is on the District's Planning, Design, and construction Committee, also the Urban Runoff Committee, to her these too are important issues. It seems that some of the people in College Park East do not corne downtown to see what the people in Old Town deal with, they ask why is she getting involved in beach issues, they say why is sand being moved around, they have other issues, but putting the berm up is important, there is a responsibility to protect those homes, people talked about safety with the parking issue, there is not a contest to see whether Lampson or Pacific Coast Highway has the most traffic and which is the most unsafe, they both have problems, it was said a child was killed some years ago, CPE has a problem with 'dead mans curve', that name did not come lightly, there have been several deaths, one can look at the wall and see the different colors, that is reflective of how many times cars have gone through the wall, Lampson is a bypass for the 405, each section of the City has different problems, there needs to be an effort to fix the problems but they must be worked on collectively. A speaker claims that the City is not collecting taxes from Oakwood, the speaker has been told that the City is collecting that money, there were also negative comments relative to City employees, yet the employees work very hard at what they do, in many ways overworked, they all work very hard. with regard to the measures for street sweeping and tree trimming, there is now limitation on how far the Council can go to promote measures on the ballot, all that can be done is try to educate the voters, she has a newsletter that goes out in College Park East, she puts such things in that newsletter, her belief is that CPE residents approved those measures, they want their streets swept more often, there also used to be a beach buggy, in 1995/96 the 405 Freeway made the Guinness Book of Records, the section between the 22 and the 605 was the busiest stretch of freeway, twenty-seven thousand vehicles an hour, it has not gotten any better. Councilmember Campbell mentioned that there are a lot of issues being dealt with, so much has changed, it is not what it was thirty years ago, one must deal with what life is today, there are those that are not pleased with some of the decisions made but that is the way it is, when Bixby came to town she voted against the project, her residents did not want the Center, but she knew that the City needed the money, yet she voted the way her residents wanted, just the way Councilmembers Yost and Antos voted on I I 9-9-02 I behalf of their residents, all five members of the Council have to make decisions for the good of the City and sometimes there are areas that do not like those decisions. Councilman Yost said he is disappointed with the decision on parking meters, his feeling is that it is a historic decision, a destructive decision, a hostile decision, and he would strongly recommend that the residents that did not like the decision to stay involved, go to the Coastal Commission, come to public comments, and if meters go in then work to get them removed, private citizens can go a long way. There used to be some power lines in town, they are no longer there, that was done by private residents, meters will alter the character of the town and take away from being the special place that it is, it is hoped they can be kept from going in. Councilman Yost thanked the people who put on the Dolphin Tournament over the Labor Day weekend, a small volleyball tournament at the south end of town, a good time, very social, things like that make Seal Beach .a wonderful place to live. with regard to his comments to not specify where the revenues that may be derived from parking meters may be used, Councilman Yost stated that revenues are generated from various places within the community and if he were to try to keep the revenue generated from his District in his District the revenue would stay there because most of the revenue generating areas are in his District, Boeing as an example is the number one utility user tax generator, but that would not be in the best interest of the community as a whole, one should look at where the revenue is needed within the community, if revenue were to be specified in that way that is what creates division, at one time there was a proposal to put a cell tower in a park and then keep the revenue for just that area, that was felt to be divisive, those decisions should be made as a community, that is why he recommended not specifying a specific use for parking meter revenues. Councilman Antos said he too was disappointed with the vote on parking meter issue, when the use of parking revenues comes back to the Council he would invite the residents to express their views as to where such revenues should be spent, his opinion is that it should be used to fix roads. Councilman Antos mentioned a memorandum relating to billboard regulations, Metromedia, Inc. versus City of San Diego, to that he inquired if that would mean that the City can establish an amortization period, and requested that the City Attorney determine what would be appropriate, there is one billboard in Seal Beach. He noted that the Planning Commission determined to agendize, and the Council should as well, a clarification of ambiguity of a section of the zoning Ordinance relating to the number of parking spaces in residential zones, the Council could communicate to the Commission that it would support consideration of that issue. The City Attorney stated they would look at the issue of amortization, it is believed possible however recalled that Ca1Trans established a schedule for payments even when billboards are amortized, the Council would need to consider that. Mayor Larson said he felt that the Council was trying to solve a problem, to which he told the story of his troop ship, sixty years ago this month, running aground off of Guadalcanal, the captain in turn asked what the troops were going to do about it, the troops didn't want to do anything because there was a submarine trying to sink them and the troops thought they were already on the bottom. I I CLOSED SESSION No Closed Session was held. 9-9-02 / 9-23-02 ADJOURNMENT It was the order of the Chair, with consent of the Council to adjourn the meeting until September 23rd at 6:30 p.m. By unanimous consent, the meeting was adjourned at 10:20 p.m. o ex-off"cio clerk Seal Beach I Attest: Approved: Seal Beach, California September 23, 2002 The regular adjourned City Council meeting scheduled for 6:30 p.m. this date was canceled due to the lack of items requiring Closed Session consideration. I clerk Seal Beach, California September 23, 2002 The City Council of the City of Seal Beach met in regular session at 7:52 p.m. with Mayor Larson calling the meeting to order with the Salute to the Flag. R~LCALL Present: Mayor Larson Councilmembers Antos, Campbell, Doane, Yost Absent: None I Also present: Mr. Bahorski, City Manager Mr. Barrow, City Attorney Mr. Mandell, Assistant to the City Attorney Mr. Whittenberg, Director of Development Services Mr. Dancs, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Captain Schaefer, Police Department